What I Buy When I Grocery Shop

I’m back in Chapel Hill (drove back from DC last night) and have spent the day so far unpacking, organizing, and getting ready for class to start up again tomorrow. I went to hot yoga this morning and then my next plan of action was grocery shopping!

I’ve gotten questions before about what I buy when I grocery shop, so I thought it would be fun to show ya’ll what I bought today since the fridge was pretty much empty, although I did have a decent amount of staples (cereal, oats, etc.) in the pantry so this isn’t a massive grocery shop… but you know what I mean.

First up — dairy!

Organic 1% milk, organic low fat cottage cheese (small curd), and some Chobani yogurts. My grocery store (the co-op a few blocks from my place) doesn’t carry Stonyfield Oikos Greek yogurt :( I love the Chobani flavored Greek yogurts but for plain I’d prefer to buy Oikos since it’s organic. I’ve asked them to get it in stock if they can — we’ll see if they ever do!

Next — the only frozen item I picked up today (I also love frozen peas, green beans, and mixed fruit, but I have some) — Ezekiel sprouted grain tortilla wraps! I LOVE these wraps. My absolute fave :) And it’s nice that you store them in the freezer because I don’t go through them that quickly! I also consistently buy their frozen cinnamon raisin bread. Yum!

Next — a couple random items — a spur of the moment ONE Coconut Water (love for hot sweaty workouts), plus little containers of the co-op’s house-made hummus and tabouli — they have the BEST tabouli.

So there you have it! If you guys found this helpful, let me know and I’ll do it again :)

And now I’m off to relax — my apartment has a pool so the girls are going to come over for a little pool time in a bit :) I’m not gonna lie — I’m seriously not excited to start up class again tomorrow already so soon — I’m still feeling really burned out, bah. We have class all day the rest of this week and then for the rest of the summer we’ll have class all day Mondays and Tuesday through Friday will be at our internships. It’s going to be VERY busy!

Comments

I love grocery store posts! It looks like you got a good amount of stuff! I’d be really interested to hear you do a post about what you buy organic v. conventional and why. It sounds like almost all of what you bought was organic, so how you do so on a budget, etc. Thanks!

Hi there, I had a great time in CH this weekend! Such perfect weather. Saw your school. I tried those Ezekiel wraps once and thought it was terrible! I couldn’t peel them apart frozen, and then I left them all out and it was hard as a rock defrosted. I love the cinnamon raisin bread though. Dinners always take some planning during the week, especially when I cook for myself and my husband.

Give the wraps another try! If you just put them in the fridge instead of the freezer they are fine to get apart. Or, I use a knife sometimes to pry them apart, and then microwave the one I’m going to eat quickly to make it soft.

Thanks for sharing this Anne, it is both helpful and inspirational. Just wondering a couple things…do you ever buy treats, like ice cream or candies? Also, how do you do all the organic stuff on a budget? I try to do organic produce when its not too much more expensive than conventional, and I do organic milk and soymilk, but I feel like doing all my other dairy, all my produce, and my meat organic would wipe out my grocery budget.

I don’t usually buy sweets/cookies/whatever at the grocery store because for me, I’d rather save that sort of stuff for a treat when I’m out and about with friends occasionally. If it’s at home, I’ll eat it all the time, which means it won’t be as much of a treat – plus out of sight, out of mind!

Oh and regarding organic, I usually just do the dirty dozen and dairy organic, and then meat if I can afford it. The co-op near us has mostly organic stuff though so I end up buying more organic than I might normally price-wise just because it’s convenient.

Love seeing what you bought. I buy much of the same type groceries except I can’t get a lot of local (just a couple mths in summer at the outdoor market) as the climate is too cold :( Thanks for sharing!

So jealous of the pool, not that it’s warm enough these days to head out there. I guess I’m always a wee bit nosy because I LOVE seeing people’s shopping lists & loots. Looks like quite a wealth of good stuff.

I also second you on the bulk bin. I LOVE it for grains, flours, beans, etc. I always compare prices but it’s generally cheaper and I love that I can just buy as much I as need.

I love grocery posts! And good for you for supporting a local co-op! I’m very much into “slow food” and supporting local businesses – now that all the farmer’s markets are back, I plan to get as much produce as I can locally, and buy all bread, eggs, and meat local as well (pretty much already do this)!

I think it’s always kind of interesting to see what others get at the grocery store! I used to love those Ezekiel wraps, but when I moved to a different part of the city my new supermarket didn’t carry them. They’re awesome for tortilla pizzas!

I am in love with those reusable grocery bags. So cute! I like the idea of shopping at a co-op – it’s cool that there’s one so close to your house. I haven’t tried Ezekial wraps (how would I know to look for wraps in the freezer section? Ahahaha) but I do love their sprouted grain bread. Sooooo good. Soooooo much lower in calories than regular bread. Win-win.

I love this post! How much do you budget for groceries/food per week or per month?
Also, I love that you use reusable bags for groceries– how about a “fANNEtastic Foods” reusable grocery bag or tote?! I would buy 1 (or 3)!!

We have really similar grocery grabs :) This is probably the first list I’ve ever seen where I “get” it. Crackers are a really good staple… I’m always just toasting bread or using celery/carrot sticks for hummus. I HATE carrot & celery sticks with hummus it’s just the easiest way to eat it. Crackers would be a great staple…

Love this post! I also like kashi cereal:) one question about the canned beets. I love eating beets but find them so messy to peel and cook so I’ve thought about buying canned beets but was concerned that they weren’t as nutrient dense. What are your thoughts on this?